11 ms·

San Francisco Mayor Declares State of Emergency to Fight City’s ‘Nasty Streets’

72 points by edmcnulty101 5y ago

syspec 5y ago
> She said she recognized that San Francisco was a compassionate city, but “we’re not a city where anything goes.” I think that is reasonable. From these comments, I get a very "dammed if you do, damned if you don't" sentiment. Should she not try to improve things, just because they tried something and it went too far in the other direction?
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  [flagged]
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- diogenescynic 5y ago
  She won’t stick with it. She just saw a poll and is switching her tune. She was downplaying the same stories previously. She’s self-motivated to save her own position. Every time there was a violent crime in BART that made the news, they’d have cops for 2-3 days in the stations then go back to ignoring things once the spotlight was off. I suspect the same will happen here. They cleaned the city up for the Super Bowl so clearly it can be done.
  - kelnos 5y ago
    They didn't "clean up the city" for the Super Bowl. They just took all of the bad stuff going on near where the SB festivities were, and (temporarily, as it turned out) moved it elsewhere.
- KennyBlanken 5y ago
  HNers are falling over themselves to make sardonic comments accusing politicians of only changing their minds because there's an election coming up. Couldn't possibly be that: * homelessness is a really complex problem, with lots of varied causes, not to mention a lot of barriers to anyone who is homeless reintegrating into society (for example, thanks to paranoia over terrorism, it can now be very difficult for someone who is or was homeless to get ID, get a bank account, etc. Homeless people don't have their birth certificates handy, don't typically have an address they get mail at, they don't receive bills, etc.) * policies and programs take time to get going; there are lessons learned in planning, implementation, etc. * change does not happen overnight; think of a city program to address homelessness like a container you're using to bail out a canoe that's full of water. * it takes time to collect data, and more time to figure out what the data means * it takes time to figure out what to do about that data And so on, etc.
  - mbrodersen 5y ago
    I have lived in a number of very large cities around the world. And they were all clean, safe, and well-maintained. SF is a basket case of mismanagement.
edmcnulty101 5y ago
https://archive.md/JCUfj https://archive.md/JCUfj
qwertyuiop_ 5y ago
That was quick https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Defund-the-police-sf-oakland-berkeley-san-jose-15444031.php https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Defund-the-police-sf-oak... https://defundsfpdnow.com/ https://defundsfpdnow.com/
Proven 5y ago
[dead]
silisili 5y ago
I sometimes feel like a crazy person in today's news. A city notorious for decriminalizing... everything, is now crying that crime is too high. What exactly is the news break here?
- refurb 5y ago
  A key skill in politics is breaking things through your decisions then act like your shocked and angry at how it was allowed to happen.
  - silisili 5y ago
    Yeah, and it cuts both ways unfortunately. I feel like there should be a way more reasonable middle ground on where to live between 'people are suffering let them steal from you and do whatever they want outside of murder' and 'no gay marriages, no abortion, no welfare', which seem about what we're stuck with anymore. Does a city exist that is progressive in nature but tough on crime?
    - spoonjim 5y ago
      Yes, New York City under Bloomberg.
    - hbarka 5y ago
      Cities exist that are progressive and low on crime.
      - silisili 5y ago
        Low on crime =/= tough on crime. SF used to be reasonably low crime.
      - kcplate 5y ago
        I doubt that you can name one in the US.
        deleted 5y ago
throwaway05112 5y ago
Someone's polling numbers took a hit
alphabet9000 5y ago
i assumed this was a new mayor, i was surprised to see that she's been in office since 2018.
- petre 5y ago
  Yes, the elections are close so she has to undo part of what SB 82 did by decriminalising petty theft in order to stand a chance for a new term. This is how politicians create problems and then fix them in order to stay relevant and pretend they're doing actual work.
  - kelnos 5y ago
    I wouldn't say "close"; Breed is less than two years into her four-year term. The next mayoral elections aren't for another two years, at the end of 2023. But I suppose it's possible that she believes she needs to start "doing something" about the crime problem even now (rather than waiting another year), or it could affect her chances at reelection.
  - ecf 5y ago
    > This is how politicians create problems and then fix them in order to stay relevant and pretend they’re doing actual work. Or a politician is simply reacting with the changing viewpoints of their constituents in regards to a failed policy. You know, how well-adjusted members of society behave when faced with changing circumstances. I simply cannot tolerate this “us vs them” mentality in American politics.
ardit33 5y ago
It is a very disingenuous turnaround, as the current mayor and city council members are part of the problem. Lets see if they actually make it happened. Word on the street is that this came from Pelosi, as they saw poll numbers and San Francisco is making the whole Democratic party look awful. There was a turnaround even from the Pilly ultra progressive DA as well, who just two weeks ago was denying that there was a crime problem, meanwhile murders reached all time high. So this turnaround is a coordinated thing, which means it is coming from the DNC. This turnaround is because the political class/establishment got scared from both the Virginia (and somewhat New Jersey race), and in Seatle where people elected a republican DA. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/06/seattle-election-prosecutor-ann-davison/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/06/seattle-ele... The 'progressives' and their insane left wing policies, are causing a major regress of quality of life of everyone in the city, and the rest of the country is paying attention. This is the rest of the political establishment trying to save their skin, and jumping from the sinking ship and trying to reverse course. Also, both CA (LA and SA), and Seattle and Chicago are what happens when a region becomes a one party state. There is no more competition and the establishment gets entrenched to the point that it hard to dislodge, and they can enact all kind of crazy policies, that don't benefit their constituents. The same thing, but opposite ideology (right wing), is in Hungary, Poland, and Turkey. (Orban and Erdogan are the opposite side of the same coin. Super entrenched majority, that is hard to kick out, and steer the place into regress, corruption or mismanagement). Moral of the story: Don't vote blindly for one party. If the current elected leaders are not making your life better, vote them out.
- pentae 5y ago
  Well said. Even blind freddy can see this about-face is about trying to keep themselves and their political apparatus in power and not because they ever cared about the residents quality of life. The sad part is that their constituents will believe the new lies and keep voting for them.
- kgwxd 5y ago
  How are the 'progressives' causing anything when they've not gotten a single thing they've wanted, ever? What's going on now is a directly traceable result of the 'mainstream' politicians in both parties doing what they've been doing for decades. These problems are a direct result of the progressives not getting what they're fighting for. For worse (certainly not better), we have 2 parties. One is far, far worse for the general population than the other. Yes, if the current elected leaders are not making your life better, vote them out, but that doesn't mean blindly for the other party. Vote for better democrats, progressive and (actual) working class representatives that aren't brought to you by Amazon. It's the only party that gives people like that a chance. No matter how small that chance might be, it's infinitely better than 0.
throwawaysea 5y ago
Isn’t this entirely the fault of the extremist politicians and the voters who put them in place? Mayor Breed has been in her position for a few years. Why speak up now, when all of this has been building up for years, and was so obvious and predictable? I know it is tough to risk reputation when the other side is framing everything in terms of race, justice, and other “risky” terms, but I feel the incumbent politicians (and extremist DA Chesa Boudin) should not get credit for reversing course now. Unfortunately the damage has been done. Restorative justice born in SF is now a widespread practice, particularly along the west coast. In many of these cities we see the same policies of treating crimes as non crimes, removing consequences, releasing criminals early, and other such practices that ultimately risk public safety. I bet other cities will see the same effects as well.
- wahern 5y ago
  Breed isn't extremist. In San Francisco politics, she's a tad right of center. Indeed, the Board of Supervisors "progressive" caucus replaced her as acting mayor in early 2018 with Mark Farrell in a failed effort to torpedo her campaign for the coming mayoral election. Here's the very left supervisor Hillary Ronan describing Breed in 2018: "The same rich white men that steered the policies that have created the mess we are in today are the same people who are firmly behind the candidacy of London Breed." (https://beyondchron.org/sfs-twisted-racial-politics/ https://beyondchron.org/sfs-twisted-racial-politics/) Now, the progressive left is an extremely powerful force in the city, though not quite a majority. No mayor, whatever their political views, could get anything done without understanding how to placate that group. That's how politics works--you have to compromise to get anything done. Unfortunately, like Republicans nationally, local progressives have learned how to abuse that dynamic by using obstructionism and extreme rhetoric to pull the center of debate in their preferred direction. And that's how the city ends up with some of its more extreme policies and general paralysis.
  - nebula8804 5y ago
    How is Nancy Pelosi still in office if the city is so progressive? I was part of the Shahid Bhuttar campaign and was very disappointed that they chose to re-elect Pelosi after all the messes of the Trump years. I think the city is really controlled by the rich neoliberals and progressives are nothing but lip service. There is no other reason they would keep such a garbage candidate around.
systemvoltage 5y ago
I need to vent out. I am an immigrant to USA at young age and now naturalized citizen. Ever since I got citizenship, I've for voted for Democrats because they represent my values. But today's left-wing is unbearable for me. We've thrown away meritocracy, liberty and rule of law. Instead, we have rampant racism (against Whites), authoritarian undertones at policy level, and straight up anarchy in many municipalities. It's constant barrage of identity politics to divide people into groups, its a constant government corruption and a constant attack on the spirit of of this nation that attracted my parents to move here. These people want to rewrite history in darkest possible terms. People in my country of origin are shocked at what's going on in American left, they are already aware of the right. It's all fucked up.
- kelnos 5y ago
  [flagged]
  - systemvoltage 5y ago
    > White people (myself included) have benefited from minority oppression for centuries I can't get past this. Just because some shit happened ages ago, you can't penalize current generation. I feel so digusted by this idea, it is extremely repulsive. There is no limit, no objectivity, you can go far back as centuries to feel guilt. Instead of looking forward, it is looking backwards. America is one of those nations where once you're 18, you're on your own. Go win the world, it's your oyster. That's what my parents think. I am successful here as a person of color, not because of my skin but due to meritocracy. You can twist this as much you want, but it changes the entire idea of 'fairness' in a generation of people. Instead of treating people equally, you're advocating more racism. > I also think you perhaps don't know what "anarchy" is, if you think we have that in left-leaning cities. This is anarchy IMO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_Occupied_Protest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_Occupied_Protest
    - nebula8804 5y ago
      When this conversation comes up I am reminded of this picture: [1]: https://reshmasanthosh91.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/picture1.png https://reshmasanthosh91.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/picture... As an immigrant to the US, your family likely had some level of success in order to afford to be able to come here. It is not easy to immigrate to the US. After all the people who uproot their lives are the brave ones who are willing to put in the work. This success was aided from a mentality that was ingrained over multiple generations. I have noticed this mentality with multiple immigrants from various countries. What you may not have internalized is the context in which all these people have grown up in the US. You need to suspend your biases for a moment: Imagine you are born in the inner city, your parents may not even be together(divorced or missing) during your formative years and money is always a struggle. Now add in the local community is super rough and there may be a local culture of discouragement in excelling(ie, you are targeted by others if you stick out and try to escape your circumstances). Now include an overpopulated school system that may or may not be extremely underfunded. Finally sprinkle on the chance that if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could end up in jail due to circumstance beyond your control(you are around a robbery/killing despite not participating in it) or worse accidentally shot by a cop. If you end up in jail, you are finished for life as this system is extremely harsh on people who enter the system. It is extremely difficult to escape the system once you enter. You may be hosed for generations. Now you may ask, how did the family end up in that spot to begin with? Well it could go all the way back to slavery. The White slaveowners may have lost their slaves but they profited from the wealth created by the slaves in the form of infrastructure or equity. That wealth does not disappear and is passed down from generation to generation. Now combine this with more modern practices like Redlining which served to invest in White America after WW2 while purposely excluding everyone else. Again white families building up additional wealth over generations while minorities are locked out. Is it any surprise we are in the current situation? On another note: A lot of modern immigrants have tech to thank for their miracle in life. Here is an industry which the local population is not massively adept in and pays way above average salaries. It is a once in a generation opportunity for masses of immigrants to cut the line and catch up to white America that has generations of equity. In some cases, immigrants are blowing past white America (since rural America is flatlining). I hate the fact that many immigrants are ignorant of this reality. It will lead to people worse than Trump and sometimes it terrifies me that it will blow up in the immigrants faces when the incumbent citizenry has had enough and they push back.
edmcnulty101 5y ago
I find it interesting that crime in S.F. in 2021 is actually amongst some of the lowest it's been in in a decade. https://sfgov.org/scorecards/public-safety/violent-crime-rate-and-property-crime-rate https://sfgov.org/scorecards/public-safety/violent-crime-rat... But it appears that compared to a similarly sized city (850,000ish) Jacksonville FL, San Fr. has almost twice as much property crime. https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/jacksonville/crime https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/jacksonville/crime Does anyone have any additional data that would be good to look at to get a clearer picture?
- diogenescynic 5y ago
  People aren't reporting all the crime because cops take 3-4 hours to show up and even when the cops do show up, they don't even always take a police report. For car breaks they tell you to call 311. If it's an issue with a homeless person (and most are) then they tell you to call the non-emergency line... It's a complete joke. Last year my wife was pregnant and we had a homeless guy walking around our building with a machete and smoking meth and it still took the cops HOURS to show up and when they did--they just shooed him down the street. Great job! You have to have an actual restraining order for the cops to do anything and that takes time+money. People just aren't wasting their time reporting crimes that they know the SFPD and city won't do anything about. I know I didn't report the last 3 times my car got broken into. Most people probably report it the first time, see that the SF basically takes no action, then stop reporting further break ins.
  - dariusj18 5y ago
    Anecdotally, this is the same anywhere. Cops take forever to show up. I always assumed it was a coordinated effort to pump the populace for more funding.
    - diogenescynic 5y ago
      Not true. I've lived in other parts of the state where cops show up much quicker--especially if it's something that isn't a property crime.
csw-001 5y ago
We need to stop normalizing states of “Emergency” to deal with everyday policy issues. It’s inappropriate, anti-democratic, and a dangerous road to head down.
BrandoElFollito 5y ago
I visited SF right before the pandemic, and 15 years before (I am French). The difference was palpable. We used to walk down the streets at night with my wife 15 years ago, and we were walking quickly now with our children, surrounded by homeless people and dirty streets (or hotel was next to the harbor, in the touristic area). It is a shame, I liked SF a lot.

72 points by edmcnulty101 5y ago

> She said she recognized that San Francisco was a compassionate city, but “we’re not a city where anything goes.” I think that is reasonable. From these comments, I get a very "dammed if you do, damned if you don't" sentiment. Should she not try to improve things, just because they tried something and it went too far in the other direction?

SavantIdiot 5y ago
[flagged]
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
diogenescynic 5y ago
She won’t stick with it. She just saw a poll and is switching her tune. She was downplaying the same stories previously. She’s self-motivated to save her own position. Every time there was a violent crime in BART that made the news, they’d have cops for 2-3 days in the stations then go back to ignoring things once the spotlight was off. I suspect the same will happen here. They cleaned the city up for the Super Bowl so clearly it can be done.
- kelnos 5y ago
  They didn't "clean up the city" for the Super Bowl. They just took all of the bad stuff going on near where the SB festivities were, and (temporarily, as it turned out) moved it elsewhere.
KennyBlanken 5y ago
HNers are falling over themselves to make sardonic comments accusing politicians of only changing their minds because there's an election coming up. Couldn't possibly be that: * homelessness is a really complex problem, with lots of varied causes, not to mention a lot of barriers to anyone who is homeless reintegrating into society (for example, thanks to paranoia over terrorism, it can now be very difficult for someone who is or was homeless to get ID, get a bank account, etc. Homeless people don't have their birth certificates handy, don't typically have an address they get mail at, they don't receive bills, etc.) * policies and programs take time to get going; there are lessons learned in planning, implementation, etc. * change does not happen overnight; think of a city program to address homelessness like a container you're using to bail out a canoe that's full of water. * it takes time to collect data, and more time to figure out what the data means * it takes time to figure out what to do about that data And so on, etc.
- mbrodersen 5y ago
  I have lived in a number of very large cities around the world. And they were all clean, safe, and well-maintained. SF is a basket case of mismanagement.

edmcnulty101 5y ago

https://archive.md/JCUfj https://archive.md/JCUfj

qwertyuiop_ 5y ago

That was quick https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Defund-the-police-sf-oakland-berkeley-san-jose-15444031.php https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Defund-the-police-sf-oak... https://defundsfpdnow.com/ https://defundsfpdnow.com/

Proven 5y ago

[dead]

silisili 5y ago

I sometimes feel like a crazy person in today's news. A city notorious for decriminalizing... everything, is now crying that crime is too high. What exactly is the news break here?

refurb 5y ago
A key skill in politics is breaking things through your decisions then act like your shocked and angry at how it was allowed to happen.
- silisili 5y ago
  Yeah, and it cuts both ways unfortunately. I feel like there should be a way more reasonable middle ground on where to live between 'people are suffering let them steal from you and do whatever they want outside of murder' and 'no gay marriages, no abortion, no welfare', which seem about what we're stuck with anymore. Does a city exist that is progressive in nature but tough on crime?
  - spoonjim 5y ago
    Yes, New York City under Bloomberg.
  - hbarka 5y ago
    Cities exist that are progressive and low on crime.
    - silisili 5y ago
      Low on crime =/= tough on crime. SF used to be reasonably low crime.
    - kcplate 5y ago
      I doubt that you can name one in the US.
      - deleted 5y ago

throwaway05112 5y ago

Someone's polling numbers took a hit

alphabet9000 5y ago

i assumed this was a new mayor, i was surprised to see that she's been in office since 2018.

petre 5y ago
Yes, the elections are close so she has to undo part of what SB 82 did by decriminalising petty theft in order to stand a chance for a new term. This is how politicians create problems and then fix them in order to stay relevant and pretend they're doing actual work.
- kelnos 5y ago
  I wouldn't say "close"; Breed is less than two years into her four-year term. The next mayoral elections aren't for another two years, at the end of 2023. But I suppose it's possible that she believes she needs to start "doing something" about the crime problem even now (rather than waiting another year), or it could affect her chances at reelection.
- ecf 5y ago
  > This is how politicians create problems and then fix them in order to stay relevant and pretend they’re doing actual work. Or a politician is simply reacting with the changing viewpoints of their constituents in regards to a failed policy. You know, how well-adjusted members of society behave when faced with changing circumstances. I simply cannot tolerate this “us vs them” mentality in American politics.

ardit33 5y ago

It is a very disingenuous turnaround, as the current mayor and city council members are part of the problem. Lets see if they actually make it happened. Word on the street is that this came from Pelosi, as they saw poll numbers and San Francisco is making the whole Democratic party look awful. There was a turnaround even from the Pilly ultra progressive DA as well, who just two weeks ago was denying that there was a crime problem, meanwhile murders reached all time high. So this turnaround is a coordinated thing, which means it is coming from the DNC. This turnaround is because the political class/establishment got scared from both the Virginia (and somewhat New Jersey race), and in Seatle where people elected a republican DA. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/06/seattle-election-prosecutor-ann-davison/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/06/seattle-ele... The 'progressives' and their insane left wing policies, are causing a major regress of quality of life of everyone in the city, and the rest of the country is paying attention. This is the rest of the political establishment trying to save their skin, and jumping from the sinking ship and trying to reverse course. Also, both CA (LA and SA), and Seattle and Chicago are what happens when a region becomes a one party state. There is no more competition and the establishment gets entrenched to the point that it hard to dislodge, and they can enact all kind of crazy policies, that don't benefit their constituents. The same thing, but opposite ideology (right wing), is in Hungary, Poland, and Turkey. (Orban and Erdogan are the opposite side of the same coin. Super entrenched majority, that is hard to kick out, and steer the place into regress, corruption or mismanagement). Moral of the story: Don't vote blindly for one party. If the current elected leaders are not making your life better, vote them out.

pentae 5y ago
Well said. Even blind freddy can see this about-face is about trying to keep themselves and their political apparatus in power and not because they ever cared about the residents quality of life. The sad part is that their constituents will believe the new lies and keep voting for them.
kgwxd 5y ago
How are the 'progressives' causing anything when they've not gotten a single thing they've wanted, ever? What's going on now is a directly traceable result of the 'mainstream' politicians in both parties doing what they've been doing for decades. These problems are a direct result of the progressives not getting what they're fighting for. For worse (certainly not better), we have 2 parties. One is far, far worse for the general population than the other. Yes, if the current elected leaders are not making your life better, vote them out, but that doesn't mean blindly for the other party. Vote for better democrats, progressive and (actual) working class representatives that aren't brought to you by Amazon. It's the only party that gives people like that a chance. No matter how small that chance might be, it's infinitely better than 0.

throwawaysea 5y ago

Isn’t this entirely the fault of the extremist politicians and the voters who put them in place? Mayor Breed has been in her position for a few years. Why speak up now, when all of this has been building up for years, and was so obvious and predictable? I know it is tough to risk reputation when the other side is framing everything in terms of race, justice, and other “risky” terms, but I feel the incumbent politicians (and extremist DA Chesa Boudin) should not get credit for reversing course now. Unfortunately the damage has been done. Restorative justice born in SF is now a widespread practice, particularly along the west coast. In many of these cities we see the same policies of treating crimes as non crimes, removing consequences, releasing criminals early, and other such practices that ultimately risk public safety. I bet other cities will see the same effects as well.

wahern 5y ago
Breed isn't extremist. In San Francisco politics, she's a tad right of center. Indeed, the Board of Supervisors "progressive" caucus replaced her as acting mayor in early 2018 with Mark Farrell in a failed effort to torpedo her campaign for the coming mayoral election. Here's the very left supervisor Hillary Ronan describing Breed in 2018: "The same rich white men that steered the policies that have created the mess we are in today are the same people who are firmly behind the candidacy of London Breed." (https://beyondchron.org/sfs-twisted-racial-politics/ https://beyondchron.org/sfs-twisted-racial-politics/) Now, the progressive left is an extremely powerful force in the city, though not quite a majority. No mayor, whatever their political views, could get anything done without understanding how to placate that group. That's how politics works--you have to compromise to get anything done. Unfortunately, like Republicans nationally, local progressives have learned how to abuse that dynamic by using obstructionism and extreme rhetoric to pull the center of debate in their preferred direction. And that's how the city ends up with some of its more extreme policies and general paralysis.
- nebula8804 5y ago
  How is Nancy Pelosi still in office if the city is so progressive? I was part of the Shahid Bhuttar campaign and was very disappointed that they chose to re-elect Pelosi after all the messes of the Trump years. I think the city is really controlled by the rich neoliberals and progressives are nothing but lip service. There is no other reason they would keep such a garbage candidate around.

systemvoltage 5y ago

I need to vent out. I am an immigrant to USA at young age and now naturalized citizen. Ever since I got citizenship, I've for voted for Democrats because they represent my values. But today's left-wing is unbearable for me. We've thrown away meritocracy, liberty and rule of law. Instead, we have rampant racism (against Whites), authoritarian undertones at policy level, and straight up anarchy in many municipalities. It's constant barrage of identity politics to divide people into groups, its a constant government corruption and a constant attack on the spirit of of this nation that attracted my parents to move here. These people want to rewrite history in darkest possible terms. People in my country of origin are shocked at what's going on in American left, they are already aware of the right. It's all fucked up.

kelnos 5y ago
[flagged]
- systemvoltage 5y ago
  > White people (myself included) have benefited from minority oppression for centuries I can't get past this. Just because some shit happened ages ago, you can't penalize current generation. I feel so digusted by this idea, it is extremely repulsive. There is no limit, no objectivity, you can go far back as centuries to feel guilt. Instead of looking forward, it is looking backwards. America is one of those nations where once you're 18, you're on your own. Go win the world, it's your oyster. That's what my parents think. I am successful here as a person of color, not because of my skin but due to meritocracy. You can twist this as much you want, but it changes the entire idea of 'fairness' in a generation of people. Instead of treating people equally, you're advocating more racism. > I also think you perhaps don't know what "anarchy" is, if you think we have that in left-leaning cities. This is anarchy IMO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_Occupied_Protest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_Occupied_Protest
  - nebula8804 5y ago
    When this conversation comes up I am reminded of this picture: [1]: https://reshmasanthosh91.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/picture1.png https://reshmasanthosh91.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/picture... As an immigrant to the US, your family likely had some level of success in order to afford to be able to come here. It is not easy to immigrate to the US. After all the people who uproot their lives are the brave ones who are willing to put in the work. This success was aided from a mentality that was ingrained over multiple generations. I have noticed this mentality with multiple immigrants from various countries. What you may not have internalized is the context in which all these people have grown up in the US. You need to suspend your biases for a moment: Imagine you are born in the inner city, your parents may not even be together(divorced or missing) during your formative years and money is always a struggle. Now add in the local community is super rough and there may be a local culture of discouragement in excelling(ie, you are targeted by others if you stick out and try to escape your circumstances). Now include an overpopulated school system that may or may not be extremely underfunded. Finally sprinkle on the chance that if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could end up in jail due to circumstance beyond your control(you are around a robbery/killing despite not participating in it) or worse accidentally shot by a cop. If you end up in jail, you are finished for life as this system is extremely harsh on people who enter the system. It is extremely difficult to escape the system once you enter. You may be hosed for generations. Now you may ask, how did the family end up in that spot to begin with? Well it could go all the way back to slavery. The White slaveowners may have lost their slaves but they profited from the wealth created by the slaves in the form of infrastructure or equity. That wealth does not disappear and is passed down from generation to generation. Now combine this with more modern practices like Redlining which served to invest in White America after WW2 while purposely excluding everyone else. Again white families building up additional wealth over generations while minorities are locked out. Is it any surprise we are in the current situation? On another note: A lot of modern immigrants have tech to thank for their miracle in life. Here is an industry which the local population is not massively adept in and pays way above average salaries. It is a once in a generation opportunity for masses of immigrants to cut the line and catch up to white America that has generations of equity. In some cases, immigrants are blowing past white America (since rural America is flatlining). I hate the fact that many immigrants are ignorant of this reality. It will lead to people worse than Trump and sometimes it terrifies me that it will blow up in the immigrants faces when the incumbent citizenry has had enough and they push back.

edmcnulty101 5y ago

I find it interesting that crime in S.F. in 2021 is actually amongst some of the lowest it's been in in a decade. https://sfgov.org/scorecards/public-safety/violent-crime-rate-and-property-crime-rate https://sfgov.org/scorecards/public-safety/violent-crime-rat... But it appears that compared to a similarly sized city (850,000ish) Jacksonville FL, San Fr. has almost twice as much property crime. https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/jacksonville/crime https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/jacksonville/crime Does anyone have any additional data that would be good to look at to get a clearer picture?

diogenescynic 5y ago
People aren't reporting all the crime because cops take 3-4 hours to show up and even when the cops do show up, they don't even always take a police report. For car breaks they tell you to call 311. If it's an issue with a homeless person (and most are) then they tell you to call the non-emergency line... It's a complete joke. Last year my wife was pregnant and we had a homeless guy walking around our building with a machete and smoking meth and it still took the cops HOURS to show up and when they did--they just shooed him down the street. Great job! You have to have an actual restraining order for the cops to do anything and that takes time+money. People just aren't wasting their time reporting crimes that they know the SFPD and city won't do anything about. I know I didn't report the last 3 times my car got broken into. Most people probably report it the first time, see that the SF basically takes no action, then stop reporting further break ins.
- dariusj18 5y ago
  Anecdotally, this is the same anywhere. Cops take forever to show up. I always assumed it was a coordinated effort to pump the populace for more funding.
  - diogenescynic 5y ago
    Not true. I've lived in other parts of the state where cops show up much quicker--especially if it's something that isn't a property crime.

csw-001 5y ago

We need to stop normalizing states of “Emergency” to deal with everyday policy issues. It’s inappropriate, anti-democratic, and a dangerous road to head down.

BrandoElFollito 5y ago

I visited SF right before the pandemic, and 15 years before (I am French). The difference was palpable. We used to walk down the streets at night with my wife 15 years ago, and we were walking quickly now with our children, surrounded by homeless people and dirty streets (or hotel was next to the harbor, in the touristic area). It is a shame, I liked SF a lot.